Hillsong Worship has announced it is withdrawing from the upcoming Casting Crowns tour with We the Kingdom.
The church’s music ministry made the announcement in a Facebook post this week.
“With generous and gracious support of our friends and partners Casting Crowns and Premier Productions, Hillsong Worship has asked to be withdrawn from the upcoming Casting Crowns/Hillsong Worship tour with We The Kingdom,” the group wrote. “Whilst we are deeply disappointed to have to make this difficult decision, we do feel that is the right one at this time in our history and the decision that, for us, requires the most faith.”
Hillsong Worship went on to explain that they are not a band but volunteers from church campuses.
“Uniquely, Hillsong Worship is not and has never been a band. We are an extension of and expression of Hillsong Church — a collective of our local church worship teams. All of us are either on staff at Hillsong Church or volunteers at our local campuses,” the post explained.
“Right now, our church is walking through some difficult days and navigating significant change. Our community is hurting but hope-filled. With the full support and endorsement of our senior church leadership, we believe the decision not to go on tour this month is the one that puts the health and well-being of the people of our team first. Now is the time for us to humbly seek the Lord, to grieve in hope, and to heal in community, together,” the post said.
“We are devastated to have to withdraw from this tour we have been planning and praying into for over a year, to let down our friends Casting Crowns, We the Kingdom and Premier Productions who mean the world to us, and to let down all of your who were planning on coming. We are so sorry,” the post continued.
“We would love to encourage you to hold onto your ticket and head along to these nights which are going to be so full of life, joy, and encouragement in God’s presence. We know you will be ministered to deeply by the Lord through our friends Casting Crowns and We the Kingdom, who are absolutely incredible,” the post said.
“God bless you all. We truly look forward to worshipping with you again and celebrating what the Lord has done in our midst as we fully surrender to His will and purposes,” Hillsong Worship’s post concluded.
The Hillsong music ministry has produced some of the most significant modern worship songs used in evangelical churches around the world, including “Oceans,” “What a Beautiful Name,” and “Shout to the Lord.”
As CBN News reported last month, the Hillsong board said church fo-founder Brian Houston resigned as global senior pastor of the church on March 23 after they found he had breached the Hillsong Pastor’s Code of Conduct.
In a letter to church members on March 18, Hillsong’s global board described the complaints made against Houston and apologized to the women.
“We have sadly been dealing with two complaints made against Pastor Brian over the last 10 years,” the board said in the letter that was also posted to the church’s website.
“We apologize unreservedly to the people affected by Pastor Brian’s actions and commit to being available for any further assistance we can provide,” the board continued.
In the email obtained by the Australian news outlet Eternity News, Houston, 67, apologized to church members, and his wife Bobbie with whom he co-founded the now global megachurch in 1983.
In February of 2022, Hillsong reported 150,000 members in 30 countries. But as CBN News has reported, since Houston’s reported resignation, nine U.S.-based Hillsong churches have apparently left the global organization in recent weeks as the movement shrinks dramatically.
Late last month, Hillsong Phoenix Lead Pastor Terry Crist announced he was the latest to withdraw his Arizona church from the oversight of the governing board of the global Hillsong Church.
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